Weaker-Than-Expected October Jobs Report Keeps Jumbo Rate Cut In-Play in December

Employment Leslie Blais 10 Nov

Statistics Canada released October employment data today. The data showed a marked slowdown in job growth, underscoring ongoing labour-market softness that triggered a jumbo rate cut last month. Statistics Canada said the country added 14,500 positions in October, which missed the median expectation of a 27,200 rise in a Bloomberg survey of economists. It’s the smallest employment gain this year and far below the average monthly pace of about 40,000 positions. The jobless rate held steady at 6.5%, beating 6.6% forecasts.

Friday’s report showed an economy still creating jobs with room to churn out more. Bank of Canada policymakers cited the weakening in the labour market to ramp up the pace of reducing borrowing costs last month. Some market participants see a possibility of another 50 bps overnight policy rate cut at this year’s final decision on Dec. 11. Swap markets put the odds of a 50-basis point cut next month at about a coin flip.

The labour force participation rate fell a tick—the fourth monthly decline since May—to 64.8%, reaching its lowest level since December 1997 (except for the COVID-19 pandemic period). The decrease in labour force participation over the past year primarily reflects a drop in students looking for work.

The employment rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed—decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 60.6% in October, the sixth consecutive monthly decline. It fell 1.3 percentage points on a year-over-year basis and has been on a downward trend from a recent peak of 62.4% in February 2023. The longer-term trend of rising retirements from an aging workforce has also reduced the employment rate.

The number of employees in the private sector was little changed in October, following two months of growth totalling 99,000 (+0.7%) in August and September. Public sector employment and self-employment were both virtually unchanged in October.

In October, employment in business, building and other support services rose by 29,000 (+4.2%), the first increase since May. On a year-over-year basis, employment in this industry—which includes establishments primarily engaged in activities that support the day-to-day operations of organizations, from waste management to administrative services—was up by 33,000 (+4.8%).

Employment in finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing fell by 13,000 (-0.9%) in October. Despite the decline in the month, employment in the industry was up by 50,000 (+3.6%) on a year-over-year basis, outpacing employment growth across all industries (+1.5%).

Public administration employment fell by 8,700 (-0.7%) in October, following two consecutive months of little change in August and September. Employment in public administration had previously followed a strong upward trend from August 2023 to July 2024, rising by 65,000 (+5.5%) over the period.

Employment in Alberta rose by 13,000 (+0.5%) in October, the second increase in three months. At 7.3%, the unemployment rate was little changed in the month, but was up 1.4 percentage points compared with October 2023. Over the same period, the employment rate in Alberta fell 1.6 percentage points to 63.7%, as employment growth (+2.3%; +58,000) was slower than growth in the population aged 15 and older in the Labour Force Survey (LFS) (+4.8%).

Employment also increased in New Brunswick in October (+3,300; +0.8%) and the unemployment rate was little changed at 6.8%. On a year-over-year basis, employment in the province was up 3.1% (+12,000).

There were fewer employed people in Prince Edward Island in October (-1,100; -1.2%). The decline in employment, coupled with an increase in the number of Prince Edward Islanders in search of work, pushed the unemployment rate in the province up 2.9 percentage points to 10.0%.

Both Quebec and Ontario saw little overall employment change in October. The unemployment rate held steady in October in Quebec (at 5.7%) and in Ontario (at 6.8%).
The unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.5% in October, following a decline of 0.1 percentage points in September. On a year-over-year basis, the unemployment rate was up 0.8 percentage points in October, as 193,000 (+15.6%) more people searched for work or were on temporary layoff.
Wage growth for permanent employees accelerated to 4.9% in October, from 4.5% last month and beating the 4.5% rate anticipated by economists.

One more jobs report is scheduled before the Dec. 11 rate decision.  Canada’s October labour survey details aren’t as downbeat as we expected. However, the downside surprise in total hiring will give the BoC cover to continue cutting rates as it rushes to return to a neutral policy stance
Bottom Line
Economists are divided on whether the Bank of Canada will cut by 25 or 50 basis points on December 11. The October inflation data, released on Tuesday, November 19, will become all the more critical. The numbers are expected to be good, meaning low, but not as low as the 1.6% y/y inflation rate posted for September, driven down by the marked fall in gasoline prices. Monetary policy remains overly restrictive as the 3.75% overnight policy rate remains well above the inflation rate. We expect the overnight rate to fall to 2.5% by April or June of next year. This should continue to boost housing activity, which picked up significantly in October. Full data for October housing nationwide will be released next week on Friday, November 15.

All signals bode well for a sharp increase in housing activity by the spring, if not markedly sooner.
Dr. Sherry Cooper
Chief Economist, Dominion Lending Centres
drsherrycooper@dominionlending.ca

Weaker-Than-Expected August Jobs Report Raises Prospect Of Larger Rate Cuts

General Leslie Blais 9 Sep

Statistics Canada released August employment data today, showing continued growth in excess supply in labour markets nationwide. Employment changed little last month, up 22,100. The employment rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed—decreased a tick to 60.8%, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline and the 10th decline in the past 11 months. On a year-over-year basis, the employment rate was down 1.2 percentage points in August, as employment growth (+1.6%) was outpaced by growth in the working-age population (+3.5%).

Full-time jobs declined by 44,000 while part-time work increased by 66,000. This was the fourth straight month of very modest employment gains.

The Bank of Canada expressed mounting concern about the rising output gap–the difference between economic growth at full employment and the current underemployment growth of less than 2%.

The number of private sector employees rose by 38,000 (+0.3%) in August, mainly offsetting a similar-sized decrease in the previous month (-42,000; -0.3%). The increase in private-sector employment in August was the first since April. Public sector employment and self-employment both changed little in August.

Year-over-year employment growth was concentrated among core-aged (aged 25 to 54) men and women as youth unemployment surged. Young immigrants have been hardest hit.
The unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 6.6% in August after holding steady in July. It was the highest since May 2017, outside of 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The unemployment rate has generally increased since April 2023, rising 1.5 percentage points.

In August 2024, 1.5 million people were unemployed, an increase of 60,000 (+4.3%) from July and 272,000 (+22.9%) from August 2023.

Among those unemployed in July, 16.7% had transitioned to employment in August (not seasonally adjusted). This was lower than the corresponding proportion in August 2023 (23.2%), indicating that unemployed people may face more difficulties finding work.

In August, the unemployment rate rose for men aged 25 to 54 years old (+0.4 percentage points to 5.7%) and for men aged 55 and older (+0.4 percentage points to 5.5%), while it was little changed for other major demographic groups.

Although the unemployment rate was up across all age groups year-over-year in August, the increase was most significant for youth (+3.2 percentage points to 14.5% in August). The rate was up for young men (+3.8 percentage points to 16.3%) and young women (+2.6 percentage points to 12.6%).

For core-aged people, the jobless rate was up 0.9 percentage points to 5.4% on a year-over-year basis in August. Increases for this age group were observed across all levels of educational attainment. On a year-over-year basis, the unemployment rate was up in August for core-aged people with a high school diploma or less (+1.5 percentage points to 8.2%), for those with some post-secondary education below a bachelor’s degree (+0.7 percentage points to 5.5%) as well as for those with a bachelor’s degree or a higher level of education (+0.9 percentage points to 6.2%) (not seasonally adjusted).

In August, employment rose by 27,000 (+1.7%) in educational services, the first increase since January. There were 75,000 (+5.1%) more people employed in this sector than 12 months earlier.

In August, health care and social assistance employment increased by 25,000 (+0.9%). In the 12 months to August, employment gains in health care and social assistance (+157,000; +5.8%) were the largest of any sector and accounted for nearly half (49.6%) of total net employment growth.

Year-over-year employment growth in health care and social assistance was recorded in the private sector (+94,000; +8.6%) and the public sector (+77,000; +6.1%). Self-employment in health care and social assistance changed little over the period (not seasonally adjusted).
Canada’s unemployment rate has risen from 5% at the start of last year.

The youth unemployment rate continued to surge in August, rising to 14.5%, the highest since 2012 outside the pandemic.
Bottom Line

The data point to deteriorating labour demand in an economy that consistently fails to add jobs at the pace of population growth. And while there’s little evidence of widespread layoffs, the continued weakness is likely to add to disinflationary pressures, allowing the Bank of Canada to keep lowering borrowing costs at a gradual pace.

Still, the unexpected jump in the jobless rate will further fuel debate about deeper interest rate cuts. Traders in overnight index swaps boosted bets that the Bank of Canada would cut by 50 basis points at its Oct. 23 meeting. They now put those odds at around 40%, compared with about 30% the day before.

Policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem reduced the policy rate by 25 basis points for a third straight time on Wednesday. Officials say they’re increasingly focused on downside worries and guard against the risk that growth slows too much. Speaking to reporters, Macklem said the Governing council had discussed a scenario wherein the economy and inflation were weak enough to require a more significant than a quarter-point reduction in borrowing costs. Policymakers also reiterated they’re concerned about undershooting their 2% inflation target. “We need to increasingly guard against the risk that the economy is too weak and inflation falls too much,” the governor said.

This is the first of two job reports before the October rate decision. A Bloomberg survey found that most economists expect the bank to cut by 25 basis points at the next four meetings, bringing the policy rate to 3% by mid-2025.

The Canadian data were released simultaneously with the highly anticipated nonfarm payrolls in the US, which rose by 142,000 following downward revisions to the prior two months. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting an increase of 165,000. Treasury yields fell as markets weighed whether the weaker job gains would prompt a larger than quarter percentage point cut from the Federal Reserve when they meet again on September 18.
Dr. Sherry Cooper
Chief Economist, Dominion Lending Centres
drsherrycooper@dominionlending.ca